


Eternal solitude

by alumort



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Gen, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:34:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25027807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alumort/pseuds/alumort
Summary: Neji wonders why the world went quiet after the war.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Eternal solitude

**Author's Note:**

> Neji week prompt: Solitude

Somehow, it was going away. Like the mud on his shoes, the pain slowly cleared away as he felt himself be carried into a pair of strong, warm arms. His breath was shaky. Something wet fell into his face- he couldn't point out _what_ , though. Noise had long faded from his ears, like the volume of a radio being slowly turned off.

He couldn't see anything now. His arms had gone numb, his chest refused to go up again... even if he could still feel some wind hitting his gaze, and an itch in his forehead exactly where the seal had been.

But he didn't die. He was still... _there_ , resting in someone's arms, unable to move away.

**_..._**

When he tried to get up again, an unknown amount of time later, Neji finally felt his muscles again. He didn't feel pain, or tiredness, he just... _knew_ something was wrong. But at the same time, he hadn't felt this light in years- couldn't even remember when. Was it when he was young, when his father was still alive? _Most likely._

Opening his eyes, he found himself still in the arms of someone- looking up, he noticed it was Lee. He was crying mutely, holding him close to his chest... yet Neji couldn't feel his warmth. He and Gai gave the most genuine hugs, yet the brunet couldn't feel it this time.

"Lee, stop", he ordered, frowning. The embrace was terribly long.

His teammate obeyed, placing a hand over his eyes and walking away.... Neji still couldn't feel anything more than a sense of awkwardness. 

Other shinobi ran at his sides, battling with a huge enemy. He couldn't feel the chakra in his fingers when he attempted to join; nothing happened, like he hadn't even _tried_ to.

He saw Gai open the Taijutsu Gates and fall to the ground, and yet nobody replied when he asked what happened, if his mentor was _alive-_

It seemed like a grim joke. He was walking and seeing the world, who grew completely mute and blind towards him.

Maybe he... _no_. If he had died, he would've gone with his father to the afterlife. There was no way of him being alone there, he thought. Hizashi would've waited for him... Right? He would've watched over him, Neji was certain of that.

But his father wasn't there with him. He was just being ignored by everyone else, then. Not even seeing himself on the ground convinced him. It was an illusion from his... _concussion_ ? That's probably why he couldn't hear anything, he _did_ pass out.

**_..._**

Neji was there. He _could_ move his body, he _could_ breathe- maybe the wind didn't reach his skin, or the sun, or hear anything from the world. Sounds were a long lost memory in his ears, but he was still there.

Still alive. Even after assisting his own funeral, after sitting in his own grave... he saw how Gai tried to keep training even if he wouldn't walk well again, how Tenten left the village for months at a time, how Lee always placed sunflowers every Saturday at morning, sometimes accompanied by Gai.

He... was still there. There's no way he was dead. This was a bad dream; that's what Neji tried to tell himself for years and years,while seeing how the village slowly changed, slowly evolved without him participating on it. How he became an uncle, without even catching up on his nephew and niece's names... that was the only way he finally understood he wasn't going to return, ever.

Being a ghost wasn't fun. He was alone in the world, in an eternal solitude that wouldn't be broken ever... watching his old teammates grow, speaking with muted words directed towards each other or to his grave, was more harm than good.

Nothing made him feel anything that wasn't emptiness, anyways. He got freedom in a dark and horrible way.


End file.
